So this happened today... Videos

By me not intervening, Nigredo is learning that it is okay to correct Malone. And Malone is learning to calm down a tad when playing. Mounting another dogs head or biting their tail etc is not okay.

Nigredo is still very patient but he doesn't allow everything. He won't hurt Malone and this is good for both of them.

Fecal tests back... Positive for coccidia again AND hookworm (which he did not test positive for at first). I am trying to clean the poop up and be as sanitary as possible but I guess he reinfected himself. His poops have looked totally normal but he is sorta thin still, so maybe that's why. Gotta get more meds for him. Beginning to get expensive to be frank...

Poor little fella. Let's hope after this round of meds, he's fit and healthy. Keep an eye on Nigredo too because the last thing you need if for any of these little devils to pass to him

Despite all this stuff, Malone has remained in great spirits the entire time. And boy does he have an appetite. I am beginning to think the vet is just trying to do stuff now. She gave him a vaccine saying he needed one every 3 weeks until he was 16 weeks. I have never vaccinated that much and I went to read up and I didn't see that protocol anywhere.

I can treat him for the worms at home (assuming he has them because they didn't claim to find them the first time and I don't see how he could have picked them up here) and coccidia is not a big deal if the dog has no diarrhea... So this is the last batch of meds I will be getting from them for a while.

He's due on the 30th for another vaccine, and I think I will wait for that, as well. Puppy classes will have to wait. He has demodex so shouldn't be around other puppies and honestly vet bills are getting high and so costs are adding up.

He's got sit down quite well... He's beginning to learn stay... Not there yet. We are also working on his greed. He is learning to let go of food I am holding. Doing well. Going to work on dropping items I am not holding next. His greed is a big issue.

The food aggression over the bowl is much better. Hopefully I can get a video of that tonight at dinner time. Gotta crack open another can.

His Pure Balance Salmon dry food ran out. He seems to enjoy fish based foods way more than the meat based ones. He also tries to steal cat food for this reason. So I decided to try this overpriced food. It gets good reviews. I do not care about grain free, it's just that most fish based food is grain free anyway. Hopefully he likes it. If not - he's going to be one very hungry puppy!

I still await his Embark results. Large breed puppies are often fed and exercised differently than small or medium sized breeds... I do not think he is a large breed puppy, but want to see his results so maybe I can gauge his final size and whatnot.

He is doing much better. Not perfect yet but no more horrible snarling and whatnot. He's a smart guy and learns fast. His coat looks terrible but he's okay.

Nigredo took a toy for some reason. He never usually cares about toys... And this is what happened... I almost died laughing.

Food guarding is common in pups that come from breeders who feed from one communal bowl or in pups where food is scarce. It's easy to put right (as you have seen with Malone) if caught early enough for remedial work to have a chance.

It's great to see Malone and Nigredo interacting as they are now. Nigredo the teacher and he's doing a good job

The food guarding is WAY better. I knew I could kick it. Malone is a smart guy.

Not sure how the puppies were kept before I got him... but due to his horrible heavy infestation of fleas, 3 types of worms, coccidia, and demodex... along with him being thin and stunted, clearly they weren't cared for well.

The lady said they were kept on a back porch screened in, which is okay except they had no parasite prevention... So were heavily infested. She was not equipped to care for them, she tried.

His vet bills and stuff have gotten ridiculously high from the jump... Which sucks as I am FAR from loaded. But I do love the little man and am trying my best.

So here is Malone today. He will easily let me remove even treats now without a fuss. Still snarled at Nigredo and Oreo though.

I will be starting another job soon, recently left my other one as it was too stressful. Hopefully the hours aren't weird. I hope I can do graveyard since that is when Malone is mostly asleep anyway.

He is doing just fine. His hair looks better. He's due for another vaccine but honestly I think my vet put them too close together so I will wait. He's had 3 already and honestly I think that's enough, but the mange spells a weakened immune system so I am not taking chances with him. Fortunately I have Nigredo here to help him socialize a tad since he will be late on any other socialization because he's still dealing with parasites and demodex and crap.

He's still quite thin, you can see his ribs and a little of his hip bones and feel most of his bones easily... But he is growing in stature really fast... He's such a little mutt. Really want his Embark DNA results back.

He's a little sweetheart. Hopefully, when all the parasites are gone, he'll put on a bit of weight and really blossom

I actually got an extra dose of medicine - it was only $7. Coccidia in a dog without diarrhea is considered an insignificant finding but since he's a puppy, we want to at least keep the populations of them low.

Because of past experience, I know that coccidia gives him violent liquid diarrhea, so if he doesn't have diarrhea... His populations of the parasite can't be that high.

He's gotten two more wormers since they said he had hookworms and some parasite prevention (Afoxolaner, Ivermectin).

He seems like he's fine. Playful as can be, RIDICULOUS appetite, normal poops, etc. He's never vomited even once since I got him, even when he over eats. I hope his hair grows back in and he can begin to fill out. He is gaining weight just fine, it just seems to be going to his limbs etc. He's still a little skinny minny.

I'm going to wait on classes. I want to save the money in case he needs more vet care, and he needs to be totally over the demodex before he can join any classes. I think I will wait until September.

Malone is pushing limits with Nigredo. He plays with his upper lip curled baring his upper teeth, he sometimes bites hard with the intent to hurt. A few times a bite has hurt Nigredo, and Nigredo will roll him over.

Today he mounted and tried to hump Nigredo TWICE. He's only 10 weeks or so and this behavior is quite odd. He's humped things on occasion since I got him... But never Nigredo until today and never a person yet.

Nigredo gently bucks him off but mounting/humping is NOT nice play at all and many dogs would lash out. Nigredo has FAR too much patience and I fear that he won't do a decent job at teaching Malone limits.

Because of where I live and most people owning questionable pit bulls, I don't take my dogs out much at all. It has been ages since Nigredo has interacted with other dogs (neighbors old female dog wanders over from time to time), but I know he won't start a fight or act up if we do go out.

So basically my dogs don't NEED to be social with other dogs, but I would like them to be. Might take some extra work with Malone here. He's quite naughty.

Nobody is going to tell me he's a totally typical puppy. He isn't. He's way more "aggressive" than normal puppies. He fears basically nothing. He bites WAY harder than is normal. Not once did any puppies I've had here bite hard like he does. He mounts/humps even at this age.

He learns things extremely quickly. He is extremely smart and clever. He isn't dumb, I will say that. He learns commands quickly and he quickly puts things together. I know he can unlearn bad behaviors with time and training. His food aggression is basically totally gone already.

He will yap at Nigredo or me asking (demanding) to play. He can play for hours and hours. I take him out every half hour to wee, he goes if he needs to, then back to playing. He used to tire out and come lay near me to take a nap. Now that never happens.

He never ever sleeps outside of his crate now because after a while, he gets so annoying being a yapping, chewing, running busybody that I put him in there for a while. I can't wait until he tires naturally, I feel like I would be waiting all day.

I switched to newspaper in his crate rather than towels, and he rips it all to bits. If I leave a water bowl in his crate... He plays in it and ends up turning it over so I just stopped putting one in there.

He tries his hardest to get into trash cans and onto tables and furniture to search for food. He is greedy and extremely food motivated. He always wants food. He eats more than I recall feeding Nigredo at first... And Nigredo was twice his size (and age)!

Nigredo had giardia and worms as a puppy but he was never as thin as this guy... But he was WAY less active.

I do think he is still a typical puppy, yes. Mounting, biting, vocalising, vast amounts of energy is all totally normal. If you see it as unnatural or a sign of issues I think you may unwittingly create more issues further down the line. Of course, you want to discourage the behaviours as he matures because an adult dog doing all that wouldn't be acceptable but for now just relax and don't compare him to previous dogs. All puppies are different and you just have a higher energy one. Hopefully when you get your DNA results back it will give you a clearer picture as to what he is and why perhaps he's so active. As for the greediness and food drive - use it to your advantage! OMG nothing better than a super foody pup to train more easily Good luck in your new job.

If he is going to be a hyperactive adult dog... There may be issues. Malone is a happy puppy, saved from death... But I will admit when I am in over my head... So I hope he settles a bit.

Thanks for the encouragement. The DNA should be soon now. They said early August is expected. I suspect some sort of Spaniel.

Malone doesn't like being outside. Never has ever since I got him. He tends to stay on the porch after he potties and waits to go back inside. My neighbors dog makes him nervous. He seems to understand that she is foe. She stands and stares at him, sometimes growling.

Anyway this is him today. I watch his poo like a hawk. Still looks good. Idk where that other older poo came from. It is way too big to be Malone's and I try to pick up his before we go inside anyway.

Maybe the neighbors dog. Doesn't look like Nigredo's either. Admittedly I don't always pick up his poo immediately. I don't even always see it.

Malone looks so interesting. He's slim, sorta tall with a long neck, and quite muscular. He looks like the ideal condition for an ADULT dog, but he's 11-12 week old puppy! Lol I'm so used to round chubby puppies with little "puppy" looking legs.

He does look Spaniel(y) yes. Will be interesting to see.

I never ever see Spaniels here... but he is not from here. I hadn't originally considered Spaniel due to that. The shelters here are mostly pit bull and Labrador mixes. When I look hard and break things down, I feel like I see Spaniel and pit bull terrier. My word... I sure hope not...